Unbreakable Bond
by StarkidChelsea
Summary: Seth McLaggen met Rose Weasley when he was just 5 years old. What happened after that was a series of fun, love, friendship and heartache. Their children asked for their story and this is what he tells them...
1. Introduction

OC: Seth McLaggen, Joey Hutcherson & Carter Hudson belong to me. Rose Weasley, Albus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, James Potter & Teddy Lupin all belong to J.K Rowling. Loosely based on RP events that I have been a part of.

_I cradled my youngest daughter in my arms when she asked for a story. I knew what story she wanted; she wanted the story of how I met her mother. Why I chose her and our adventures (or lack of adventures) that we had together. I settled into the couch and she sat on my knee. I eyed her suspiciously, "Karen, are you sure you aren't tired?"_

_She replies with a huge smile, her older brother and sister shortly joined us on the couch and got comfy too saying that they too wanted to listen. I take a deep breath and start..._

_"This story involves a boy and a girl, they were both ordinary children. However one thing that made them stand out from the rest was their friendship, their loyalty to each other. They had something that was impossible to share with anyone else. This is their story..."_


	2. Birthday Surprise

_The next day was eventful for me as the three children begged to hear the next part of the story. I had to tell them again and again to calm down and I would tell them in due course. I laughed as they moved on to pester their mother. "You're dad said he would tell you later. Now sit down and eat your dinner."_

_I laughed as they frowned and returned to their food. I looked up and smiled at their mother and she returned her usual loving smile. I watched my eldest daughter Sarah as she spoke to her brother. She was so much like Rose when she was that age, the resemblance was uncanny. She was like her mother in every way except she had my curly brown hair and brown eyes. The other two, Taylor and Karen had their mother's blue eyes and red hair. Sarah was due to start her first year at Hogwarts this year and was extremely excited. I loved seeing her eyes light up every time it was mentioned._

_That night when we were all sitting in the living room, Sarah asked her mother about our 'first' kiss. Rose smiled at her and said, "Ask your father. He remembers it best." _

_She winked at me and I rolled my eyes. Now that was a story to tell, "It was on my Tenth birthday…"_

It was the 13th of September which meant it was my Tenth birthday and I couldn't wait. Today was the day that party was being thrown for me. My mother had said to me, "We will throw a party for you this year for your tenth birthday. You'll be at Hogwarts for your Eleventh so we won't get to see you but at least you'll have Rose and all you're new friends. How does that sound?"

I was ecstatic; it meant Rose was coming round for the full day. I walked around the house with the biggest smile on my face until everyone arrived. The first to arrive was Joey, my other best friend.

"_Uncle Joey?"_

"_The one and only Joey," I say._

_Taylor asked, "What was he like at ten?"_

"_Well," I replied, "The man you know today is not like the Joey that I was friends with then, when we were ten right up till we were Seventeen he stuttered. He had low self-esteem and would hardly talk to anyone, I was surprised when he replied to me but I guess we saw something in each other that we regarded as great friendship material. I stuck up for him and he helped me in my studies."_

"_Wow," came Karen's voice._

_Well anyway back to the story…_

Joey arrived first and he smiled at me as he entered the house, he looked around nervously as he handed over my present. I welcomed him and showed him to the Den which was decorated for my party. Shortly after more and more of my friends arrived. The Potters and Weasleys were last to show up as usual and I started to worry that Rose wouldn't show. That feeling didn't last long though as someone had sneaked up behind me and placed their hands over my eyes, "Guess who?"

She didn't wait for a reply as she moved around in front of me and gave me a hug. I smiled back at her as she handed me the present. I placed it on the pile with the others and lead her to the Den. The next few hours were spent playing party games and eating food. The parents all left later to have a cup of tea and a chat. That left us all alone in the Den. One of the boys, who were James' age, suggested we played a more mature game. He said it was called truth or dare. Everyone was up for it and Rose said she was game. I wanted to look mature in front of her so I agreed.

The game was fun until it got to Rose, it was James' turn to give a dare out and he chose her. She grinned at him saying, "Come at me bro."

James smiled and simply said, "Kiss Seth."

"_So Uncle James was to blame?"_

_Rose laughed, "Yes, Sarah he definitely was to blame."_

_Taylor laughed, "I like Uncle James."_

_Karen shouted, "ME TOO, ME TOO!"_

_I rolled my eyes at everyone and cleared my throat. "Shall I continue?"_

_They fell silent as I continued…_

The room fell silent as they either stared at me or her. I had gone bright scarlet, your mother Rose just sat there with a poker face. I couldn't tell what she was thinking, I just wanted to be anywhere else but there, sitting beside her and feeling embarrassed. I didn't dare look at her as James urged her to do it. "You wanted a dare so on you go. It's only Seth."

That's when I felt it, the quickest brush of her lips against mine. It was enough to cause something inside of me to awaken.

James laughed, "I guess that'll do. Rose it's your turn to spin the 'dare wheel'."

I think the next few minutes were a blur as I tried to figure out what I was feeling; I was only disturbed by a nudge from Joey. I looked up and realised the pointer had landed on me. Albus was smiling as he asked, "truth or dare?"

I replied with truth.

"Who in this circle would you marry?"

_Karen piped up, "Did you say Mummy's name?"_

_I looked at Rose and grinned._

They all urged me on, to tell them the answer. I looked at my feet as I said, "Rose."

Everyone laughed, a few girls 'oohed'.

"_What did Mum do?" Sarah asked._

_I laughed._

_Sarah looked puzzled then turned to Rose, "What did you do?"_

_Rose simply shrugged, "I punched him."_

_Taylor burst out laughing._

_I grinned, "That was the day I fell in love with your mother. However it wasn't until Fourth year at Hogwarts that I fully realised that._

_Taylor raised his eyebrow, "Why Fourth year? What happened then?"_

_I replied, "Your mother got herself a boyfriend."_


	3. Scorpius Malfoy

_Telling the story of how I met our Rose became a nightly routine, I had tucked both the girls in when Rose entered their room with Taylor. She yawned, "This little monster wanted the next part in the story, and he seems to think there will be fighting."_

_I smiled and patted the bed for Taylor to sit. "He'll be hugely disappointed then. There was no fight between myself and Scorpius Malfoy. However we did exchange words on several occasions._

_Rose raised her eyebrows as she sat down on Karen's bed. Karen looked up at her, "Why weren't you with Daddy?"_

"_Karen, you'll understand when you are older. You don't always find the person you love until later on. I didn't realise at the time that I loved your father. At that time," she sighs, "at that point I was in love with Scorpius."_

_Sarah looked between us both, "What happened then?"_

_I took a breath and started…_

It was mid-way through our Fourth year of Hogwarts when Rose one day came bounding into the Common Room with a smile on her face. I looked at her and smiled back. As she sat down beside me I looked at her, she was smiling weird. "Ok dork, tell me what's running through that skull of yours?" I tapped her on the head for effect as she turned to me.

"Scorpius Malfoy asked me out."

I nearly choked, "He what?"

She raised her eyebrow at my reaction, "Scorpius Malfoy asked me out… And I said yes."

The words were caught in my mouth, my throat had gone dry. I had no clue how to respond to her, "Oh…"

"Are you ok, Seth?"

"I-I… I'm fine, that's great news Rose."

"You don't seem so convinced by that, are you sure you're fine?"

I looked at her with a faked grin, "Of course I am. I'm happy for you. So how did he ask you?"

She started to describe how he has asked her out and what her reaction was. I tried my best to listen but I zoned out for most of it. All I could think of was that I had lost her now. She now belonged to Scorpius…

"And of course I'll still be your best friend, of course I will."

All I could get out my mouth was, "Huh?" and "Wh-what?"

"I was saying that I'll still be your best friend. I just won't be around much when I'm with Scorpius."

I just nodded as I looked up and saw Joey coming down the stairs from our dorm. I smiled at him and waved him over.

He smiled, "H-hi g-guys. W-What's up?"

I turned back to the homework I was avoiding, "Rose will tell you."

"_That's your father right there in a nutshell. He was a homework avoider."_

_Sarah laughed, "Did that not get him in trouble a lot?"_

_I smiled, "That it did but that's later on in the story."_

As Rose explained to Joey what had happened, I stared at my notes without seeing them. All I could think about was Rose marrying Scorpius and leaving me. I felt empty, empty knowing she wouldn't be around anymore.

I noticed Joey on several occasions throwing me sideways glances. He knew how I felt about Rose but I made him swear he would keep it to himself.

Rose noticed one of these looks, "Am I missing something here? What's up with you two?"

Joey coughed and replied, "N-nothing, S-Seth is j-just w-worried a-about t-t-this e-effecting Q-Quidditch, a-aren't you Seth?"

Rose looked from Joey to Seth, "Is that true? You think that just because I'm with Scorpius, it will affect my playing ability? I don't care that he's on the Slytherin team and you shouldn't either."

I stood up, "Doesn't matter. I'm tired so I'm going to bed. See you in the morning."

"_Was that the reason why, Dad?"_

"_No, Sarah. That was a made up lie by Joey to cover up what I really wanted to say."_

_Taylor chimed in, "I wanna play Quidditch too."_

"_I'll teach you one day, but back to the story first."_

I heard her say bye as I walked up the stairs. I opened the door and entered our dorm. There were only four of us in this room. There was myself, Joey and 2 boys that were from a set of triplets. Their names were Jared and Cassius Cobain. I got on with Cass quite well but for some reason, Jared hated me and it didn't bother me that much that I hated him back. I could always here him making snide remarks and Cass telling him to shut up.

Their sister, the third and youngest of the triplets, Jenny shared a dorm with Rose, her friend Amy Waters Emarlia Grace and Elle Tandim.

I would probably say all of us were a pretty tight group; the only real problem of this group was Jared.

"_I don't like Jared, he sounds nasty."_

"_Sarah, Jared was a misunderstood boy."_

_Karen pouted, "Jarhead is a meanie."_

_Rose laughed, she must be thinking of the exact same thing as me. 'Jarhead' was the nickname we all gave Jared when we were at school._

_Taylor sat up, "Wait! Was Jared not the person who hurt you?"_

_I nodded, "That isn't till later though."_

I went straight to my bed ignoring the Cobain's and another of Jared's taunts. As I closed the curtains around my bed I heard a thump followed by an 'owww'. It satisfied me to know that Cass didn't share his brother's dislike and I respected the fact that he stood up for me.

The next day had to be one of the worst I spent at that school. I tried to act as normal as I could around her but it got tougher when Scorpius joined us for lunch. He parked himself right in between me and Rose. He turned and winked at me before placing an arm around Rose. I wanted to punch him or at least say something to him, but I knew I would lose Rose if I did so I remained silent. He spent the whole lunch time laughing and joking with Rose. I watched as she laughed at his jokes or smiled when he did something nice for her. Joey tried to engage me in a conversation but I never heard a word he said. I was a bit distracted by the raging jealousy that was stirring in me. It started to bubble up and take over, I knew I had to get out of there so I got up and left. I had to or I would have snapped.

I heard someone running to catch me up and I realised it was Rose when she started calling my name. I turned around and accidentally unleashed my jealous rage on her, "GO BACK TO YOUR BOYFRIEND! Leave me alone."

Rose stopped dead, she was stunned. I had no idea why I said it.

_Rose sighed._

_I say, "I still regret snapping to this very day."_

"_What did you do Mum?"_

_Rose looked at her eldest daughter, "Nothing, I walked away."_

Things were never the same after that, Rose ignored me when Scorpius was around and I ignored her. We were civil when alone in the common room. We had to be, we were paired up for a Defence the Dark Arts project. Scorpius wasn't happy about this when he found out; I heard it took her awhile to talk him around to the whole thing.

_Rose said, "It took me a full day and several promises of huge Honeydukes chocolate bars actually."_

_I laugh, "An effort wasted really."_

Joey was paired with Emarlia so we spent most of our nights going over our notes and talking over the project. I got to know Ema; we decided that Emarlia was a mouthful to say, and we quickly became good friends with her too. Most nights were spent giggling at Joey as he stuttered trying to talk to her, he was never good at this but it seemed to me like he was having an extra hard time talking to Ema. For the most part Rose ignored me and only spoke when I addressed her. She couldn't get over the fact I snapped at her for no reason, well no reason she knew of.

It lasted for months, she wouldn't talk to me and I wouldn't be around her with Scorpius there. I had heard from Amy that Scorpius had told Rose that he loved her but I decided I no longer cared.

_Karen cried, "You didn't care about Mummy?"_

_Rose cuddled her daughter as she looked to me._

"_Of course I did, honey. I loved your mother; it's just harder to show you love someone when they are with someone else. I wanted your mum to be happy, so if I had to suffer then I did it. I never wanted for her to be unhappy," I smiled at her._

It killed me inside to spend those months alone without her, sure I had Joey but it wasn't the same. He never made me laugh or smile the way she did. That all changed when she walked into the library one night not noticing me there, she sat where me and her sat when we were friends. I could tell from the corner I was in that she had been crying. I got up and walked over, "Rose?"

She looked up at me and quickly wiped her eyes, "Seth? What are you doing here?"

I held up a Charms book and shrugged, "Studying. I'm kinda behind with some of the homework." I sat down beside her, "What's wrong? Is it Scorpius? Has he said something?"

I hoped she never heard the hope in my voice as I looked at her. My heart jumped as she nodded. I put the book down on the table, "What happened?"

"He got really cocky and was saying things about you."

"And? Why would you care if he talks about me?"

"I don't know but I did, I mean I do." She turned to look at me, "Seth, we were best friends. Untouchable by others. What changed?"

I shrugged again, "You did."

She sighed, "I'm so sorry, I should have tried harder to stay friends. I can't believe I chose him over you. I know I hurt you but would you be my friend again? I need a shoulder to cry on right now."

I smiled at her, "I never stopped being your best friend. You always will be no matter what happens, I couldn't imagine a life without Rose Weasley and her unhealthy Nutella addiction."

That made her laugh, "I missed you, Seth."

I grinned at her, "I'm glad I could help. I'll always here be here to help. Always. So now talk to me."

That night we sat up and spoke in the common room for hours, we would have stayed in the library but we got kicked out because the librarian wanted to close it up for the night. We spoke about the past few months. What she had missed in his life and she in his. They spoke about Scorpius and what he was saying about Seth, how she couldn't stand it anymore and how she dumped him. I spent most of the night smiling and nodding.

I was just thankful that I had Rose back as my friend.

_I yawned, "That was the day that your mother and I became best friends again. It was like falling in love with her all over again."_

_Sarah smiled with a tear in her eye, Taylor made a face and Karen was snoring quietly. Rose got up silently and tucked Karen into her bed._

_I shooed Taylor to his room and said goodnight to Sarah._

_Eventually I sat on the couch and yawned as Rose joined me. "You make a great story teller."_

"_Thanks, but it's you that makes this story worthwhile."_

_We kissed._


	4. Reason to Smile

_Sarah looked at her mother, "So how old were you when you both got together?"_

_Rose replied, "We were fifteen."_

"_How did dad ask?"_

_Joey walked in at this moment interrupting them, Taylor jumped of the couch, "Uncle Joey!"_

"_Hey Taylor, you been behaving?"_

_As Joey hugged him he said, "Of course."_

_He laughed and ran to get a drink from the tray I was carrying in, "Whoa, slow down there son." I hand him a glass as I sit down beside Rose. "Hey Joe, how are you?"_

"_I'm great, I was just about to head to Diagon Alley and I was wondering if you needed anything?"_

_I thought for a moment, "I think we are sorted for now. How are Nathan and Grace?"_

_He smiles as he grabs a cookie, "Nate's excited about starting Hogwarts, pretty much as excited as your Sarah. Grace is well; she's finally started sleeping through the night."_

_I grinned at him, "She's a healthy one year old. She'll settle into a routine soon enough."_

_As he leaves he waves and shuts the door behind him. I turn to Sarah, "So are you excited about starting your first year with Nate?"_

_For some reason she blushes._

_Rose laughs, "Anyway, weren't you about to tell the next part of the story?"_

_I grin at her, "Oh yeah…"_

We had started Fifth year the way we usually did, a whole load of boring classes and good food. However this year was going to be a good year for me as I was a Prefect. I was reluctant at first but Rose convinced me that it would be a good thing to put on a job application, "Just think, McGonagall chose you over all the other fifth year boys. She must think you have more potential than anyone else."

"Yeah I suppose."

She raised an eyebrow at me, "Seth are you ok? You have barely spoken a word all day. Are you stressed about something?"

I looked at her and was about to tell her what was on my mind but stop myself as Joey and Ema walked over, "Hey guys. How are you?"

Rose scowled at me then gave me a look which basically said 'you aren't getting out of this so easy.' I laughed at her expression and listened into Joey's conversation. I started to wonder if she knew what I felt for her. She must have some inkling, some idea by now. I was finding it harder to contain them around her. There was a moment during the summer in which I nearly told her, I stopped myself in time though. I resolved within myself to tell her by the end of this year. That gave him exactly two months until the New Year to tell her.

"_Did you tell her?"_

"_I was just getting to that."_

One night Joey and I were in our dorm studying Potions. Thankfully Jared and Cass were downstairs with their sister so that gave us some peace. I was trying hard to look at what I was reading but my mind kept drifting from the task at hand and on to the task of telling Rose. I was interrupted by Joey. "Y-y-you s-should just t-tell her."

I looked up from the book, "Huh?"

"Rose, y-you should j–just t-tell her."

"What? I can't JUST tell her. She'll laugh at me or stop talking to me."

Joey rolled his eyes, "Y-you really are c-clueless!"

I frowned at him, "What are you talking about?"

Joey stood up and paced the floor in front of me, "Y-you love Rose. I-I think s-she's in l-love with y-you too-"

I stood up too, "What makes you say that?"

Joey sighed, "I-I've noticed it. E-Ema has t-too. Rose l-looks at y-you the s-same way as y-you d-do to her."

I sat down and thought on this and sure enough I went through my memories of the past months spent with her. She did seem to be acting differently. I just put that down as happiness to be back at Hogwarts but maybe there was something else. She was smiling more than usual and was never away from his side, except for sleeping and showering of course.

_Karen threw one of her toys against the table and giggled, "Mummy loves Daddy."_

_Rose grinned at her, "That I do."_

I stood up again and ran down to the common room, I needed to find her, to talk to her and tell her my feelings. I felt that now was the time, I had no idea why but it just did.

I shouted to the room at large, "Anyone seen Rose?"

A few people shrugged and Amy, Jenny and Ema said they hadn't seen her.

"What's wrong Seth?"

I turned around to see Rose appearing from the Portrait hole. My palms started to sweat and I felt the heat more than ever has she looked at me. "Seth?"

I took a deep breath and walked up to her, "I love you. I'm in love with you. I always have been."

She looked at me; she seemed frozen as I gulped. I had no idea if I had ruined my friendship with her. "Rose? Please say something."

"I-I… I love you too, Seth"

"That's ok, I never expected you to- what?"

She laughed, "I love you too, Seth."

My eyes widened, "Really?"

She rolled her eyes, "Of course, brainless!"

I laughed and for the first time… We kissed. It wasn't like the kiss during the dare. This kiss meant so much more, the kiss was shared by two people who realised they were in love. I moved my hands up to her face and held. I felt her hands grab my waist. I was so happy it was unbelievable. The kiss must have lasted for ages, it was –

_Rose cleared her throat and looked at me then nodded her head to the kids. "Kids remember, they don't need the full blown details."_

_Sarah put her hand up, "I do."_

_She put her hand down after a look from her mother and Taylor burst out laughing._

_I laughed, "Ok then, I'll move on."_

We spent the next few hours talking about our feelings. I told her everything from when we first met, to the birthday party and even about Scorpius Malfoy. Her eyes widened in horror when I told her that part. "I'm so sorry, I should have known. I'm so sorry."

I gave her hand that was entwined in mine a squeeze, "You have nothing to be sorry for."

She smiled at me and kissed my other hand, "I can't believe you stuck by me all these years with those feelings. Why didn't you tell me?"

I shrugged, "I was worried that you didn't feel the same. I didn't want to ruin what we had."

She sighed, "Oh Seth, you need to tell me these things."

"Yeah. How long have you felt this way?"

She blushed, "During the summer, I realised you were the one I wanted when you made me those Nutella sandwiches when I was ill. You spent your summer taking care of me when you didn't have to. It was only a small fever."

"I wanted too. I liked spending time with you."

She had placed a hand on my left cheek. "I guess it all changes now?"

I placed my hand over hers, "Not really, I'm still awesome and you are still a dork. The only thing that changes now is that I get to kiss you."

She laughed, "You forgot to say you are brainless."

"Did I really? Shame that! I'll stick to awesome though."

"I bet you will."

I grinned at her.

"_YAY! Wait… Is that the end?"_

"_No, Taylor, it isn't. For us it was just the start."_


	5. Jared

_Today we had Albus around for dinner; he had brought his three children and his wife Alice. They came along every Wednesday. Their oldest son David is twelve so he was already at Hogwarts, their middle child Daniel was the same age as Sarah and their youngest, a girl, was named Leah. She was seven years old. Every week we would sit down and have a meal together and let the kids play together. Tonight however they decided that they wanted to hear more of the story so they all gathered on the floor and on the sofas. Albus grinned, "So you are telling them the story of your life? Did you tell them about my epic fight?"_

_Taylor heard the word 'fight' and got extremely excited._

_Rose sighed, "Epic? I don't remember it being 'epic'. I remember it being stupid and careless. It nearly killed Seth."_

_I laughed awkwardly as Taylor bounced up and down, "Tell us, tell us, tell us."_

_I rolled my eyes at Albus as I started, "Well it all started with Jared…"_

It was just a usual day in the Gryffindor common room. Everyone was lounging about; Joey was curled up in an armchair snoozing, Albus was having a game of chess with his girlfriend Alice and Rose was lying with her feet over the back of the couch…

_Sarah grinned, "Just like I'm doing right now?"_

"_Exactly like that."_

And I was sitting on the floor beside her reading a Quidditch book, researching better ways to be a Keeper. Rose was running her finger through my hair and reading it over my shoulder. "You don't need to read that book, you know. You are a fantastic Keeper."

"You have to say that though, seeing as I'm your best friend and boyfriend."

She spun her legs around and slipped on to the floor beside me. "That doesn't make it any less of a truth. You're the reason we are winning. You keep our conceding stats low."

"Yeah but you're top scorer so technically it's you that is winning it for us."

She rolled her eyes at me and smiled. We were interrupted by a piece of scrunched up parchment, I looked over and saw Albus acting innocent, "Oh very funny Al. Very mature."

He got up and came over, "You know it! Now watch this." He sneaked up behind Joey's chair and yelled in his ear. It was one of the funniest things I had ever seen. Joey screamed and jumped a few feet in the air and fell to the floor.

He sat up and rubbed his lower back, "Very f-funny Al, d-do it a-again and I will k-kill you."

Someone sneered behind us and I turned to see Jared sitting on the window ledge, "What's Hutcherson going to do? Stutter at him? Yeah right, you lot are pathetic."

Rose stood up, "You are the one that's pathetic, now leave us alone."

"_When did you fight? I wanna hear the fight."_

_Rose sighed and chucked a pillow at Albus' head. "See what you've created? I think I'll stop Taylor from hanging around you," she laughed._

_Albus roared with laughter as he threw the pillow back at Rose._

_I laughed, "Anyway…"_

Jared stood up at that point and I saw what he was holding. It was a snake, Jared loved snakes but he wasn't allowed them in our room as everyone knew I was petrified of them, I always have been although I couldn't tell you why as I still have no idea. It's just an irrational fear that I've never gotten over. Jared winked at me as he lifted his pet up.

Rose glared at him, "Take him away! You know you can't have him around Seth."

"You think I actually care about your precious Sethykins? He needs to man up and get a grip!"

That made her angry; she hated people talking like that about me. She approached him and slapped him hard across his face.

"_And you say I'm the violent one, Rose," laughed Albus._

_Rose shrugged and laughed too. Taylor was almost giddy with joy as he heard that his mother had slapped Jared, "Mummy is awesome!"_

_I grabbed him by the waist as he skipped past, "Calm down, Midget. There's more."_

_I placed him beside me and continued on…_

Jared's eyes went wide with rage. He took his wand out and was about to strike when Albus tackled him to the ground. The spell that he aimed for Rose hit the ceiling. The next few minutes were a blur, I remember pulling Rose back and trying to pull Albus off Jared. James, Albus' older brother ran in and separated everyone that was until Jared lashed out and punched him in the stomach.

Rose was shouting for everyone to stop, Joey was half hidden out of fear he would be hit next. Amy was attempting to hold me back but she wasn't strong enough to hold me for long. It was one of those moments of absolute rage, I remember flying out of their hands and straight at Jared. At that moment, Albus fell to the ground clutching his face, it looked like Jared had hooked him right in the face. Before I could reach him, Jared aimed his wand at me and I was thrown backwards over the couch and I smashed into the small table.

"_Ouchie, that sounds sore Daddy."_

_I smiled at Karen, "It was, baby. It was."_

_David piped up, "Is that what stopped my Dad? A punch to the face?"_

_Albus pouted at his eldest, "Of course not, I tripped over a seat."_

_Rose roared with laughter, "Don't lie. There was no seat near you. He knocked you clean out."_

_I laughed as Albus sulked, "Fine! He knocked me out with a punch, you happy now?"_

_Alice was biting back her laugh beside him as Daniel and the kids burst into laughter._

The next thing I remember is blackness and Rose's voice. She was threatening me with bad jokes and Nutella. I wanted to react to her but my eyes wouldn't open. The next thing I remember was a thud against my face and a "sorry", I found out later that she had chucked a pillow at my face.

_Everyone laughed as Rose shrugged, "He wouldn't wake up. What else was I going to do?"_

It must have been at least three days that I was unconscious for, I was told that Rose never left my side once. Every day she threatened me with a new joke that was worse than the one before. I particularly remember the one she told me right before I woke up.

"Seth? Did you're hand just twitch? Come on wake up!" I never moved, "No? Ok you asked for it… A man walks in to a bar and says 'ouch'."

I opened my eyes at her and saw a fuzzy Rose shaped blur. I smiled at it and groaned as I spoke, "That was terrible."

She laughed and I could hear her crying, "You're awake! I missed you, don't do that again you brainless idiot."

I smiled as my vision started to clear up and I saw her beautiful face again, "My bad. I'll remember that next time I'm knocked out."

She grinned and sat down on the edge of my bed, "You do that!" She held out a jar, "Want some Nutella?"

I grimaced, "Ewww no thanks, I'll pass."

She smiled as she kissed my forehead, "Yep, good ol' Seth is back again."

"_And they lived happily ever after."_

_Alice rolled her eyes at Albus, "Hardly."_

_Daniel sat up, "Uncle Seth, what happened next?_

_I smiled at him and replied, "I'll tell you tomorrow, everyone else has fallen asleep."_

_And sure enough, Daniel looked around and saw that all the kids had fell asleep and Rose was snoring lightly beside me._

_Myself, Alice and Albus worked together to get all the kids to their rooms and placed their kids in one of the spare bedrooms. Then they both said goodnight and I returned to the living room to find Rose still asleep on the couch._

_I sat down beside her quietly and gaze at her sleeping. She truly was the most beautiful person inside and out that I had ever met. Her chest rose and sunk as she slept peacefully. I move a strand of hair out her face and kiss her forehead, "I love you, Rose McLaggen."_

_I leaned back into the couch and closed my eyes thinking of the time I've spent with her._


	6. A Game of Kings

"_Guess what guys? The moment you've all been waiting for…"_

_Sarah rose from where she was lying on the floor, "Mum made muffins?"_

_I laugh, "That too but something else? Something to do with the story."_

_Taylor grinned, "Is it time for the Quidditch part?" _

_I nod at him, "Smart boy. Yeah it's Quidditch and we had a match to play. Do you want to hear it?"_

_Karen giggled, "Yeah, yeah, yeah."_

_Rose entered the room with a tray of freshly baked blueberry muffins; she placed them on the table and sat beside me. She picked up Karen and placed her on her knee, she broke up on of the muffins and handed her it bit by bit. "Don't forget to tell them about my awesome skills too."_

_I winked at her, "How could I forget?"_

A few weeks later and I was ready to start Quidditch practice again. I was excited to get back up in the air and Rose was excited to have me back on the team, she was always complaining about the temporary Keeper. She said that he was trying to control the team and act like he was better than everyone else.

I yawned, "Sounds like something my dad would do."

She laughed and nodded her head in agreement. Today was the last practice before the game against Ravenclaw. The Captain, Russel Evans was so happy to see me return to full fitness that he nearly put me back in the Hospital Wing with a bone crushing hug.

To say the practice went great was an understatement, Rose was on fire with her shots and I was equally on fire with my saves. Albus caught the Snitch time and time again and his brother James was on his mark as the beater.

"_When I'm older I'm going to be a Seeker like Uncle Al."_

_I widened my eyes in mock horror, "What Taylor? Why not a Keeper like your Dad?"_

_He shrugged, "Seeker sounds cooler."_

_I rolled my eyes at him before continuing…_

We were all excited about the match coming up on the following Saturday. We were scheduled to play Ravenclaw. We knew it would be tough because the Ravenclaw team basically slaughtered Slytherin in their match. The Ravenclaw chasers had scored about eight goals before Slytherin could score their first. If I could remember properly the score ended up 375-60. We had our work cut out for us but we knew we could win; we've been training hard ever since I was healthy enough and boy did we improve. Our tactics and strategies were so air tight, '_Alohomora_' wouldn't even work on the door to get at them.

The day of the match basically smacked us in the face, it came so quick. I was so nervous that I couldn't eat. Rose waved a hand in front of my face, "If you don't eat at one slice of toast then I will shove Nutella up your nose."

I laughed but took a piece just in case because she would actually do that if she had the chance.

"_Would you have done it, Mum?"_

_She laughed, "Of course I would have, Sarah."_

Eventually the time came when we were ushered in to the changing rooms. Russel gave us the team speech, I couldn't pay attention. My knee was bobbing up and down and I was extremely nervous. I calmed the minute Rose placed her hand on my knee and kissed my cheek, "You'll do great."

I smiled at her and whispered in her ear, "I love you."

We all got up and she gave me a quick hug and held my hand tight as we approached the gate to get on to the field. I held my broom over one shoulder and her hand in the other. I took a deep breath as the gate started to open. She leaned in and gave me kiss, I responded into it before receiving a tap on the shoulder. I looked round and saw Albus smiling, "Keep that for after we win."

I winked at him and faced the now open gate.

"_Who won?"_

"_Well if you stopped interrupting, Taylor, I would tell you."_

"_Oh… Sorry Dad."_

The first half of the match was quite slow. Ravenclaw were defending well but then again, so were we. We had scored… Well Rose had scored five goals already and I had conceded three. I watched as Albus gave me a quick smile before heading off to look for the Snitch. I was thankful that our beaters were doing their job and keeping us safe. They had already saved me from a whack to the head.

The game started to speed up once Albus had spotted the Snitch for the first time. The crowd gasped and Rose took advantage of this distraction and scored. I grinned and gave her thumbs up. After that, Rose was on a roll. She scored five more and our other chasers had scored six between them. I only conceded two more. At that point the score was 170-50. If they caught the Snitch we were beat but I had confidence in Al. My attention was divided, for the most part I had my eyes glued on the Quaffle but they kept drifting to Albus, we really needed him to catch this Snitch. Next thing I was aware of was Rose scoring another three goals. I was so happy; I started to believe we had this game in the bag.

That's when things went downhill. Ravenclaw, after a time-out came back with a vengeance. They were full on attack and I was helpless to stop their constant drive to my goals. After another twenty minutes of this the score was extremely close, I think it was about 320-280.

"_It was 310-290 actually."_

_I laughed at her, "Oh yeah. I remember now."_

_Taylor looked between us, "So you lost the game then?"_

_I ruffled his hair, "So much like your mother, not a patient bone in your body."_

_I received a playful punch to the shoulder as Rose urged me to continue on._

That was when it got really rough; I don't think any of our team members ended the game without a bruise. "ALBUS POTTER HAS SEEN THE SNITCH!"

And sure enough, as I looked up I saw Albus darting full speed towards the ground. The Ravenclaw Seeker was practically on his tail, everyone's eyes were on them. He pulled up as the Snitch changed course and to me it looked like it was heading straight towards me. I started to panic as both Seekers raced towards me. "LOOKS LIKE THE ARE GOING TO COLLIDE WITH THE GRYFFINDOR KEEPER, SETH McLAGGEN!"

And then…

_Karen looked up at me, "Did Daddy die?"_

_I looked at her and tickled her chin, "Of course not silly, I'm still here."_

_Taylor rolled his eyes, "I bet you were scared."_

"_I'm not afraid to admit it, Taylor. In that moment I was terrified, anyone would be."_

_Rose chimed in, "I would actually say your father was extremely brave to stand his ground. His first thought was to protect the hoops."_

"POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH. GRYFFINDOR WIN! FINAL SCORES ARE 460-290."

I was ecstatic; I jumped in excitement on my broom and slid off. I grabbed on to the handle and swung myself up and to safety. The whole team landed on the floor and swarmed around Albus. He was grinning and holding up the Snitch. I was shouting, "You done it! You won it for us!"

I ran through the huge crowd of Gryffindor students to find Rose. I eventually found her; she was with Amy, Jenny and Ema. They all congratulated me and then made excuses to leave as they saw my eyes on Rose. I laughed as I grabbed her into a hug and spun on the spot, "We did it! We won the game."

She laughed too, "Yes we did! Now put me down, brainless. I'm getting dizzy here."

I placed her down on her feet and was about to apologise to her when she threw herself at me and kissed me. I heard a few wolf-whistles as we kissed but I ignored them. In that moment, I had no recollection of the match we just won or where we were. In that moment all that mattered was Rose and how I felt about her. "I love you."

"I love you too, brainless."

"_So you won that game?"_

"_We sure did"_

_Rose looked at her watch, "Oh crap, I forgot to put dinner on."_

_I stood up, "You relax with the kids. I'll go make us something."_

_She squeezed my arm in thanks as I got up and entered the kitchen. I put some food on to cook and stood in the doorway watching Rose with the kids. She was an amazing mother. I watched as she played with Karen and laughing at a joke that Taylor made. Sarah was asking her for some advice for school. Rose noticed me watching and gave me a loving smile. I smiled back as a tear ran down my cheek._


	7. Forever and Always

_I yawned as I sunk into the couch further; we had just come back in from a day at the beach. I was absolutely shattered and wanted nothing more to have a quick nap on the couch. Karen and Taylor had other ideas though; they jump up on me and shout for the next part of the story. I sit up and laugh at them, "You'll find the next part boring."_

_Taylor stopped jumping, "Why's that, Daddy?"_

"_Nothing exciting happens, it is mainly about your Mother and I talking and spending time together. That was the day we really started to fall in love, I mean real love. We found our true selves that day."_

"_Does mummy hit someone again?"_

_Rose shouted from the kitchen, "Not this time, Honey."_

_Taylor rolled his eyes and hopped out the room. I shouted after him, "Not interesting enough for you?"_

_I heard him shout back, "Nope!"_

_Sarah and Rose walked in from the kitchen; Rose was levitating a tray of juice and biscuits for us all. I raise my eyebrow at her, "Being lazy again?"_

_Rose picked up a pillow and threw it at my face, "Shuddup, Brainless."_

_I grin at her as I sit up; I take a glass of juice and get ready to start once again…_

It was the weekend and the excitement of the win over Ravenclaw still hadn't died down. Rose was lapping up the attention and beamed every time someone congratulated her or slapped her back. She loved it; I however was missing those moments where it was just us. We needed to get away from it all and get to know each other on a couple basis, we were lingering on best friend status with a few kisses. I think she felt the same as she soon got tired after the first couple of days and escaped to the library with me whenever we could, not much studying was done, well none by me. I avoided it and read a Quidditch book while Rose worked and rolled her eyes, but at least we were alone. I think it was the Friday when we went for a walk…

_Rose interrupted, "Saturday actually."_

_I smiled, "My bad…"_

It was the Saturday morning after breakfast when we escaped the noise of the common room for a walk in the Grounds. I had barely set foot on the top step of the Entrance Hall steps before Rose and darted off shouting, "Race you!" as she went.

I shook my head with laughter as I chased after her. Considering my height and fitness I was able to catch up with her quickly. She grinned at me as she raced ahead; we were heading in the direction of the Stadium as we ran. She slowed down as she approached the entrance, I was about to ask her why we were going in to the Stadium but I knew better when I looked at her face. We needed a place that we both loved and had a connection to, a place that connected our hearts. That place was the Quidditch Pitch.

We went through to the pitch and lay in the centre circle staring at the clouds. I placed my hand over hers and I felt her fingers link mine; I turned my head to her and saw she was looking at the sky with a smile on her face. Her special smile she had for me and no one else. My brain melted at that moment, I was lost in her features. For the first time I was noticing each and every amazing freckle on her rosy cheeks. I noticed how her nose creased as she laughed and she had the most perfect heart. As I looked at her, I couldn't believe my luck.

She raises her hand and points to a cloud, "Seth, what do you see when you look at that cloud?"

I turn my head and look up, "Uhmm… All I see is a cloud."

She shook her head, "Open your eyes, Seth. I mean really open them."

I turned again and did what she said, "Is that… Is that an Elephant?"

She smiles, "Yeah and over there, that one looks like a dog."

I frown, "A dog? Wait isn't that bad?"

She shakes her head and points, "You see the shape? It's smaller and different from the Grim," she turns to me. "You're perfectly safe."

I took one look in her eyes and knew what she said was true. I did feel safe with her; I guess she was my shelter from harm.

The rest of the day was spent cloud gazing and asking each other questions. Rose attempted many other jokes but I laughed no matter how terrible they were. I loved everything she said, she could keep a straight face when attempting to tell an awful joke but I cracked up every time.

At one point she attempted to race me around the pitch but I had grabbed her around the waist and spun her round. I let her down and she turned to me. She put her hands around my neck and ran her fingers through my hair. I had placed my hands on her waist and gazed in her eyes. She whispered, "I love you."

I smiled at her through watery eyes, "I love you more."

She shook her head, "I love you more."

I leaned in, "Impossible," I kissed her and my heart became hers for life.

_I looked up and noticed Taylor had sneaked back in and was sitting at the door, I motioned him over and he sat on the other side of me listening intently._

_Sarah looked at her mother, "What did you feel when you looked at Dad? I mean that day on the field? I would like to hear it."_

_Rose gave my hand a squeeze then sat up straight, "I guess when I looked at him; I saw the potential of a man that I would be with forever. I saw the warmth in his heart radiating out of him." She faced me. "He had and still has the most amazing smile I have ever seen, I love the way it reaches up to his left ear when he smiles. His laugh was infectious. His eyes were the colour of chocolate. I realised that day that I would always love him, love him even more than I loved Nutella."_

_We all laughed and I said, "And if you think about it, that's a huge thing for her to say at that time."_

_She grinned and continued, "I lost myself in them whenever he looked at me. I felt at home with him. I knew that whatever I did, your dad would always be there for me, holding my hand along the way." She looked at me and smiled, "The same way I am for him. Forever and always."_

_I gazed at her with a tear in my eye, I know how she felt about me then and now but every time I heard it, it healed my heart a little. To know someone as beautiful inside and out would love me, especially the way Rose did._

_I squeezed her hand back, "Soulmates from the start. Forever and always. We just didn't know it then."_


	8. That Lasted Long Not

"_So after that everything was fine?"_

_Rose sighed, "Far from it I'm afraid."_

_Sarah moved to sit beside her mother and Karen, "What happened then?"_

_I sat forward, "Remember I mentioned a girl called Jenny?" All three of the children nodded so I continued, "She was in a way, to blame. We were in Sixth Year when we split."_

"_What did she do Dad?"_

_Rose smiles sympathetically at me, "All's forgiven now."_

_I smile at her and turn to the kids, "I'll tell you anyway."_

The last of the fifth year went smooth and without any major problem, with Rose's help I was able to catch up on homework I had missed while being in the Hospital Wing. It took us awhile but we got there in the end. We celebrated the end of another year by going on holiday with your mum's parents.

When we got back however and started our sixth, things started to change. Rose and I seemed to argue over the smallest things. We actually had a serious argument over what went better with toast, Jam or Nutella.

_Taylor chimed in, "Nutella for sure."_

_Sarah rolled her eyes, "It's clearly jam."_

_Karen shrugged and said, "Both!"_

Things started spiralling downhill from there. Amy had told us it was because we spent _too _much time together, so we tried spending more time apart. I was with my friends and she was with hers. The only problem was that my friends were hers and hers mine. That plan was shot out the window fast. We did however speak less and kept boyfriend/girlfriend stuff to a particular time or day. Soon after cracks began to show and everyone noticed it. Albus and I were walking back from the library one night when he mentioned it, "What's up with you and Rose? Had a lovers tiff?"

I elbowed Albus in the ribs, "Shuddup, Potter. We're fine."

He groaned then laughed, "Second name's now, eh McLaggen? Must be more serious than I thought," his face became serious and he placed a hand on my shoulder, "If you need anyone to talk to at all, I'm here for you. Don't forget that eh? Ol' buddy ol' pal."

I couldn't help but smile, Albus had a way of cheering me up when I needed it and today was one of those days, "I think I'll speak to Rose tonight. I need to know what it is that's causing this."

Albus smiled, "That's great… Just don't elbow me again. I think you broke about a dozen ribs."

I rolled my eyes at him as we entered the common room and fell on the couch. "So what we going to do in the meantime? I am not studying one for more thing tonight. I think my eyes died from looking at the books too long."

"You sure it's your eyes?" He pretends to think, "Now what was it that Rose calls you? Oh yeah! Brainless, maybe you can't study because you have nowhere to store the information."

I grabbed the nearest pillow and smack him in the face, "Now who's brainless?"

Albus jumped up and over the back of the couch, "You're dead, McLaggen!"

I stood up and laughed, "Bring it, Potter!"

He bowed at me and I curtsied back. We stared each other down and he walked towards me. I stood my ground as he was inches from me. "You ready?"

I nod, "I'm ready!"

Albus stares at me then starts to count down, "4… 3… 2… 1… DRAW!"

At the same moment as me he drew paper and I drew scissors, "Yes! I win… As usual."

Albus sulked, "You cheated!"

_Sarah rolled her eyes, "Dad, I have to admit you and Uncle Al are complete dorks."_

I threw myself back on the couch and sprawled out and Albus did the same on the floor, "How can I cheat? Just admit it, I'm better than you."

He was about to reply when Rose interrupted him, "Hi guys, Seth can I sit down?"

I sit up immediately and allow her room and then look to Albus giving him my 'get lost' look. He did. "How are you?"

She smiled at me, "I'm great. I missed you today, where were you?"

"That's good. I was at the library with Albus studying."

She raised an eyebrow, "You voluntarily went to the library to study? What was in it for you?"

I laughed, "You know me to well, Rose. I went because he had a huge bag of sherbet lemons; you know how much I love those sweets."

She shook her head, "Aaaah, the treasured sherbet lemons. I'll keep that in mind if I ever need you to do something for me."

"The same way I keep a stash of Nutella in case I need help."

She turned to me, "You have Nutella?"

"I was just kidding, missing it already?"

She nodded and I pulled her into a hug, "At least you have me."

She put her arms around my waist and leans up to kiss me, "Meh! It will do for now."

I kissed her back with more enthusiasm. We broke apart after a short and she sat on the couch, I lay across the rest of it and placed my head on her lap. She ran her fingers through my hair and looked around the room observing everyone else. I looked around too and saw that Joey was sprawled out in front of the fire writing as usual. Albus had moved to a chair across the room and was reading a Quidditch book. Then there was Jared and Cassius having an arm wrestling competition. I rolled my eyes; those two were always competing against each other. This time I could see it was because Cass was trying to impress Amy, everyone knew he liked her. I think she did too because she was smiling at him in return. The only two people I couldn't see were Jenny and Ema, they must still be at the library.

As I wondered absentmindedly about random things I noticed Rose smiling, "What are you happy about?"

"I guess I just missed this, missed us."

I linked my hand with her hand that wasn't running through hair, "Me too."

She squeezed my hand, "I love your hair. It's really nice."

"Really? I want it shorter."

"Why?"

"I don't like it this length. It's a tad out of control."

"_I really did like his hair."_

_Taylor asked, "So is that how you split up?"_

"_No it's not. I'll get to that part now."_

Things were back on track after that until Jenny. I always had noticed her but recently she was just… there. The bad thing was that Rose was starting to notice too, she would always have some sort of physical contact with me when Jenny was about. For some reason she started smiling at me more often and was always giggling with her other friends. Jared became even more hostile after that, I was clueless as usual but something about it was inviting me in. For the first time I enjoyed having the attention of other females even though I had an amazing girl to call my own right beside me.

It wasn't until I was in the library that something happened.

I had stayed late in the library to study for a test we were having the next day, I think it was a History of Magic test but I can't remember.

"_It was a History test."_

"_Thanks Rose."_

As I said, I was studying for the test as Rose went to bed early. I thought I was alone but then someone sat across from me, "Hi, Seth. How are you?"

I looked up and saw Jenny, "Oh hi, Jen, I didn't see you come in. What are you here for?"

"I just needed a book and I uh… I wanted to speak to you about something."

I yawned, "Really? What's that then?"

"I like you."

"Well I like you too, Jenny."

She moved around and sat in the seat beside me; she faced me and looked me in the eyes. "No you don't get it, I _like _you."

I realised what she was saying and tried to move away. "Jenny, I'm with Rose. I love her. I'm sorry."

She shrugged, "And?" She placed her hand over mine, "She doesn't have to know."

"I'll know and I can't do that to her."

Before I could stop her she leaned in and kissed me, I froze.

That's when I saw her.

Rose.

"_Dad?"_

"_Sarah, your father was ambushed. He was in no way to be blamed."_

_I placed a hand on her hand and looked down, "I'm afraid I do feel that I can be blamed. I never tried hard enough to discourage her."_

"_As I said all is forgiven."_

_Taylor looked between them, "Is that it? Is that all that happened?"_

_Rose sighed, "Not by a long shot."_


	9. Altercation

_Joey was over with his wife and kids today, he was helping me prepare snacks in the kitchen while the others were out on the decking. It was a hot day so Joey suggested we make them a fruits salad. He charmed the knife to cut the fruit while I looked in the freezer for ice cubes. "So how's the life story going? What part did you end on?"_

_I brought the ice cubes out and shut the freezer lid, "The kids are enjoying it so far. Taylor is upset there isn't much fighting but Sarah seems to really enjoy the romance side of it. She's growing up exactly like her mother. I'm proud of them all. I think I ended the story on the Jenny situation. It kinda confused them a little."_

_Joey watched the knife slice through a few apples as he leaned against the worktop with his arms crossed over his chest, "I'm sure it would be, they just found out that their father was kissed by another girl while dating their mother. Anybody would find that confusing at first. I wouldn't worry about it."_

_He smiled and turned to place the apple slices in a bowl as the knife moved on to the strawberries. "I actually think Sarah is more like you to be honest. She seems to have that fire in her that you had at eleven, she is smart like you both but is more chilled out about it. I see more of Rose in Taylor; he has that edge to him."_

_I grinned as I mad the juice up, "Yeah I suppose. I can't wait to see how Karen turns out; she has quite a head on her shoulders considering she is only four. She has developed faster than Sarah and Taylor. I'm just glad Rose has her mother's brains to pass down, if it was just me then I think they would struggle."_

"_Seth how can you say that? You are the strongest person I know and that's including my wife. You had a lot going for you then and you still do. Don't put yourself down, you're kids love you, Rose definitely loves you and we all love you too."_

"_I guess, thanks Joe. You done? We should take everything out now."_

_With that we brought out the fruit and the juice and placed it on the huge wooden table we had out the back, "Come and get it guys."_

_Everyone gathered around the table and sat down, I noticed that Nathan and Sarah sat together. I couldn't help but smile, I saw a little of Rose and I in them. Sarah noticed me smiling, "What you smiling at Dad?"_

_I passed her the cups to hand out and winked at her, "Nothing, absolutely nothing."_

_She raised an eyebrow at me then passed the cups round, I noticed how she smiled at Nathan when she handed him one. I gave Rose a knowing look and she grinned back. "Seth would you like to tell the next bit of the story? Nathan says he would like to hear it too."_

"_Does he now?"_

_Nathan nodded, "Sarah told me about it. It sounds interesting and I would like to listen."_

"_Where is your mother?"_

"_She's inside putting Grace down for a while, she kinda fell asleep."_

_I nodded and started handing out the fruit to everyone, "Well I'll start just now then…"_

The silence in the library was killing me; I backed away from Jenny and looked at Rose, "I swear I never did anything. Please believe me."

Rose was in near tears, "Believe you? You were kissing her!"

Jenny stood there in silence as I begged Rose to forgive me, "Jenny tell her! Tell her you kissed me! Please!"

Jenny nodded and stepped up to Rose, "He kissed me and he liked it."

Fire ignited behind her eyes as she looked at Jenny, I knew exactly what would happen next, "ROSE DON'T!"

Too late, Rose slapped Jenny full force across her cheek. She took one final look at me before she ran out.

"_Woooo! Go Mum!"_

_Rose rolled her eyes at her son, "I swear I'll kill Albus next time I see him."_

I walked up to Jenny and helped her up, "What the heck? Why did you say that?"

She rubbed her cheek, "She isn't right for you! How can you not see that?"

I grabbed her shoulders, "You listen to me! I love Rose, I don't love you, I never have and I never will. Get that into your head and leave me alone!"

I knew instantly that I had went too far but I didn't have the strength to run after her as I heard her sobbing as she ran out the library and out of sight. I slumped down in my chair and let my head fall to the desk.

The next thing I remember is being wakened by an old witch telling me to get out. I opened my eyes and saw that it was just the librarian, "Sorry," I murmured at her as I gathered my things and started the long walk up to the common room. I was dreading the return, I was pretty sure everyone would know by now… Jared would know. I rolled my eyes as I said the password and entered the room. As I predicted, everyone stopped talking and turned their eyes on me, I spotted Rose straight away. She was with Amy and Ema in tears. I wanted nothing more to go over and explain but my path was blocked by Jared. "What the hell? How dare you mess with Jenny!"

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Mess with her? She kissed me! I had nothing to do with it; she knew I'm with Rose."

"Stop lying, Seth! Everyone knows the truth; you messed her about and cheated on Rose."

"WHAT? What has Jenny said? Where is she? I'll make her tell you all the truth" I moved to try get around him but he blocked my way again.

"You won't go anywhere near her, you've hurt her enough!"

I looked at Jared and basically pleaded with him, "Please just get her to tell everyone the truth."

"I don't have to do anything, you hurt my sister so you will have to pay," he was about to throw a punch at me but was tackled to the ground by someone. I looked at realised it was Joey.

I was stunned and amazed, quiet, chilled, scared of his own shadow Joey just stepped up and was physical with someone when he didn't have to be, "Joey?"

He stood up, "W-what? H-he was a-about t-to h-hit y-you."

I gave him thumbs up and thanked him then turned to talk to Rose as Jared stood up rubbing his head. She was about to go up the stairs to her dorm, I run to her and grab her wrist, "Rose? Please hear me out."

She turned to me, "What? There's nothing left to say. You… You… I trusted you."

I was fighting hard to keep my tears back, "I swear I didn't start this, please believe me."

She pulled her wrist out of my grip, "It's over, Seth. You hurt me. You were the last person I would have thought to have done this."

"Rose? Don't do this, I love you. Please don't."

I felt two pairs of hands on me pulling me back; I was too distraught to fight back. I cried out, "Rose? Rose, please!"

She walked up the stairs and vanished from my sight as she slammed the door shut; I fell to the floor and let all my tears that I held back out. The two pair of hands turned out to belong to Albus and Cassius. I shrugged them off and walked up to my dorm.

"_How did you feel, Mr McLaggen?"_

_I sighed, "Nathan, Mr McLaggen is my father, please call me Seth."_

"_Oh ok, Seth how did you feel? In that moment when she ended it?"_

"_Nathan, the honest answer would be that I thought I had died. I lost all senses, I was heart-broken and I couldn't do anything to stop it. I had given my whole heart to her and when she left, my heart left with her."_

_I looked at Rose and saw that she had a tear in her eye, "I'm so sorry."_

_I shook my head, "I know now that none of this was your fault. Don't think on it for one minute that it was."_

_Joey gave me a sympathetic smile as I continued._

The next few weeks were torture. I missed Rose with every fibre in my body but I decided that I had to respect her decision. She wanted to end it and I had no power over it. I tried my best to get on with my life but it was impossible. How can you live on when the reason you are living is no longer in your life? I fell even further behind in class and I couldn't concentrate during Quidditch practice. Albus and Joey tried as hard as they could to snap me out of this 'funk' that I was in but it was impossible.

Eventually it came to a point where I lost all function and the ability to speak. I was a walking corpse I guess you could say. The only thing that really gave me hope was seeing that Rose was starting to become her usual self again, she was smiling and laughing with her friends again.

It was probably about four weeks later I heard all the girls talking when I was at the table in the common room avoiding the homework set out in front of me. Ema smiled at Rose, "So who is the guy?"

I sneaked a glance and saw Rose smile back, "He's a seventh year Ravenclaw, his name is Harvey. He's a nice guy."

I heard Amy say, "So does that mean it's really over with Seth?"

I dropped my quill and froze, my heart stopped beating as I listened for her response. "Of course, there will be a part of me that will always love him but I've moved on now, he should do the same."

I heard Amy sigh, "Rose can't you see how this could affect Seth? He's already a mess and if you haven't noticed he doesn't speak to _any_ girls now. In fact, he doesn't speak at all. I think you should talk to him."

"And say what? '_Hey Seth, how are you? Doesn't really matter, I just wanted to tell you I've moved on and I hope you do too?', _I can't do that Amy. I don't have the strength or the heart to see his face when I tell him. I can't."

Ema spoke next, "Well someone will have too. I know you have moved on but it's clear Seth hasn't. To be honest, Rose, I don't think he ever will."

I heard her sigh and get up, the next thing I knew she was sitting beside me. "Seth?"

I took one look at her and got up and left, I wasn't sticking around to hear the girl I loved say she had moved on from me. I went into the boy's dorm and slammed the door shut. "Touchy touchy, someone is in serious need of a chill spell."

I look up from my feet and see that Jared was smirking at me from his bed; I opened the dorm door and head straight past everyone. I heard Rose shout after me but I ignore her and keep walking. I headed straight to the Quidditch pitch and sat in our spot. I tried to collect my thoughts but it was impossible with them all screaming at me, I don't even notice Albus and Joey sitting down on either side of me. Albus spoke first, "Is it ok if we sit here with you? It looks like you need a friend or two."

The most I can do is nod as tears stream down my face. Joey puts a hand on my shoulder, "J-just let it o-out."

I looked at them both, "How am I meant to get over her? I can't, I love her too much."

Albus nodded, "I know you do, buddy. I know you do. I think the only thing you can do is make an effort to get on with your life. If it's meant to be, Rose will see that and you'll both make up. For now all you can do is wait it out and show her that you have changed."

"A-Albus is r-right."

I snorted through my tears, "That's a first."

Albus laughed, "There you go, that's the first smile… well kind of a smile I've seen from you in what? Four weeks."

He lies down on his back and looks up at the sky, Joey and I do the same thing. "I guess I will just have to show her that I'm worth the second chance. Thanks guys, I feel a bit better now."  
>Joey smiled and Albus laughed, "That's ok, does that mean you can stop sucking in Quidditch? We kinda need our Captain on top form. Not the depressive lump of coal that we've had recently."<p>

I shake my head and jab him in the side, "I'll try my best now, I need to show her that I care, that I still love her. Can you guys help me?"

They both agreed and we came up with a plan to help win her back. We called it Operation 'Rose'."

_Sarah raised an eyebrow, "So what happened in this Operation 'Rose.'?"_

_I yawned, "You'll have to wait and find out, right now I'm shattered and it seems the sun feels the same."_

_Everyone looked up and saw that the sun had already begun its descent._

_Rose stood up and stretched, "Right come on, everyone back inside."_

_Nathan smiled at Sarah as she left the decking and entered the house, he turned to his father, "Can we stay? I would like to hear more."_

_Joey looked to Rose and I and we both nodded. Joey smiled at his eldest son, "Sure."_


	10. Operation 'Rose'

_We were all having a huge game of Exploding Snap when Taylor spoke up, "So what happened with Operation 'Rose'?"_

_I placed my card down, "Well we had to plan it all out first and the execute it. It took us awhile to figure something out and it was hard trying to keep it a secret but -"_

"_SNAP!"_

_I looked up and Karen and saw that she was giggling with glee at her snap, I grinned. This was her favourite game although I'm very suspicious of her. She inherited her mother's brain which means she also inherited tendencies to cheat._

"_You know your mother; you know how hard she is to fool."_

_Rose smiled as she placed on of her cards down, "Too right. I'm too awesome to be fooled."_

From that day I worked harder to overcome my depression and earn her trust back. Albus and Joey were a great help, they didn't force me into anything too quickly and let me move along at my own pace. It helped to know that at least two people were on my side.

I eventually got back into the rhythm of school and my performances during Quidditch practice got increasingly better each time they practiced. I couldn't help but smile more as time went by, the only thing that continued to both him was Harvey. I knew he was a 'player' as people called it, I always saw him with other girls chatting them up but it wasn't my place to tell her. I attempted to be civil but it was hard as she started to spend more time with Harvey.

I was in the library with Albus and Joey one day and we were discussing our plans to show Rose that I still cared for her. We had gone from simply telling her, to giving her a note, to Albus telling her… to kidnapping.

_Sarah's eyes widen, "Kidnapping?"_

_I rolled my eyes, "Don't ask, it was a suggestion from Albus."_

_Joey laughed, "That simply says it all."_

"That's ridiculous, Albus. I can't kidnap her; she'll kill me before I have a chance to speak."

Joey laughed as he read a textbook on Werewolves, "T-that's true."

I sighed and threw another sherbet lemon in my mouth, "This will be harder than I thought. It needs to be something big, something that will show her that I still love her. Urgh! I can't think, this place is too loud."

Albus shook his head, "Seth, you do realise we are in a library and no one else apart from us are in here? It's silent."

"Same thing."

Joey rolled his eyes, "N-no it isn't. You c-can't c-concentrate b-because you a-aren't l-listening to y-your h-heart."

Albus nearly choked on his sweet and ruffles Joey's hair, "Jeez, Joe. When did you become such a romantic?"

He glared at Albus and yanks his hand away, "S-shuddup!"

I rolled my eyes at the pair, "Give it a rest. We'll get kicked out of here and we still have loads to plan."

Albus saluted at me and Joey grinned, "Yessir!"

The next hour and a half was spent coming up with ideas for me to win her back. The only problem we came up with was Harvey. We had to try and work out how we could get around that.

Albus put his hand up to signal that he had an idea, "My dad told me once that during their second year here they put a sleeping potion in two cakes."

I sighed, "How is that meant to help?"

"You never let me finish! Anyway they had to get hair from two Slytherins for a Polyjuice Potion. These two Slytherins were the friends of that Draco Malfoy…"  
>"Scorpius' father?"<p>

"The one and the same. It was over something called 'The Chamber of Secrets', well anyway they used the levitating spell to hover the cakes and those idiots ate them and it knocked them out."

I frowned at him, "Where are you going with this Albus? What's your point?"

He got excited, "My point is that we do the exact same thing to Harvey, while you work your 'McLaggen' charm on Rose. That way he'll be out of the way for at least an hour and won't be able to interrupt you."

I looked at him, "You know, Albus, you are a genius. A crazy evil genius but a genius nonetheless."

He grinned and winked at me, "You know it!"

Joey shook his head, "You k-know if y-you g-get caught y-you'll be in b-big t-trouble."

Albus laughed again and stood up, "Have no fear my stuttery little friend, we shall prevail and conquer thy woman's heart for thy gentleman, Seth. We must face adversity and look a challenge in the eye… yadda, yadda, yadda. You get the point?"

Joey smirked, "Y-yes, you idiot."

Albus ruffled Joey's hair and grinned, "What's the set of three Muggle dudes who fight the bad guys with feathers in their hats?"

I shrugged but Joey answered as he looked back to his book, "The Three Musketeers."

Albus jumped up, "That's the one!" He points to us all, "It's like us all. There are three of us."

Joey snorted, "Well done, Einstein!"

Albus raised an eyebrow, "Who is Einstein?"

"He's one of the smartest Muggles ever to- are you even listening to me?"

Albus grinned and shook his head. Joey chucked a sweet at his head but Albus ducked, "You can't beat my Seeker reflexes."

_Sarah rolled her eyes again, "Again… You guys are dorks."_

_Rose grinned, "Of course they are. What more do you expect from them?"_

_Nathan laughed and grinned at his father. Joey grinned back, "As you can see we weren't exactly the coolest of the lot when we were at school. Well when we were alone we were."_

I was feeling more confident now that we had a plan sorted out and it finally was the night when we planned but something came up.

I was by myself on the walk back from the Great Hall to the common room when I saw him, he was with another girl. I hide around the corner to avoid being seen; I looked around the corner and confirmed his suspicions. It was Harvey, Rose's new boyfriend except he wasn't with her. From what I could tell it was Alex Thompson but then again I couldn't see her that well. I removed myself from the wall and walked towards them, "What do you think you are playing at?"

They jumped apart and Harvey glared at me, "What does it look like McLaggen?"

I felt the rage build up on me and I found myself squaring up to him, "You hurt her and I will make you pay!"

He shrugged, "I have no idea what you are talking about."  
>I watched as Alex ran out of the corridor and I turned back to him, "Yes you do! I'm talking about Rose!"<p>

"What about her?"

I held back my urge to punch him and sighed, "You tell her or I will," and with that I walked back to the common room.

As I entered Albus jumped up, "I have the potion ready, are you?"

"The plan is off."

Albus looked dejected, "Why?"

I snapped, "It just is!"

I walked away from him and sat at the table; I grabbed some spare parchment and began to write a note to Rose. I knew she wouldn't listen to me but she would read a note, her curiosity always won over her in that aspect. I wrote everything I felt and what I had just seen, I then got up and handed it over to her and return to the other side of the room and sat beside Albus. He raised an eyebrow as I sat down, "What the heck was that about?"

I watched her as she read the note, I knew she would. I held a hand up to him, "I'll tell you in a second."

Joey joined us and followed our gaze, "W-what a-are you d-doing?"

I heard Albus shush him as I watched for her reaction and then she moved. She got up and threw the note in the fire. My jaw dropped and I mumbled, "She doesn't believe me."

"Seth, what happened?"

I turned to them and explained the whole Harvey situation. Their faces showed the exact same reaction as mine. "He's cheating on her?"

I nod, "She won't believe me. I have no chance. I have to try make her see."

_Taylor sat forward, "How long did it take?"_

"_Not long in fact. She saw the real Harvey about an hour later."_

_Nathan looked up from his game of chess with Sarah, "What happened then?"_

That night Albus, Joey and I were in the library again with a stash of sweets. We soon were interrupted when Harvey arrived and he wasn't alone. He had yet another girl with him. I looked to the other two and lowered my voice to a whisper, "What is this guy doing?"

The both shrugged as we watched; I was horrified when the pair had started kissing. The rage inside was stirring again and this time I had less control. It got worse when Rose walked in and froze as she saw Harvey and the girl.

I automatically stood up, "Rose?"

She looked at me with tears in her eyes. That was the last straw as my heart broke with hers. I approached Harvey and yanked him back. He yelled and then noticed Rose, "Rosie? It's not what it looks like."

Then the fire was back in her eyes. She walked up to him and slapped him full force across the face.

_Taylor laughs, "Mum is awesome!"_

Harvey staggered back from the force and once again the girl ran out, he stared at Rose as he massaged his now red raw cheek. I walked over to Rose and stood between them, "Harvey how can you mess her about like that? She doesn't deserve this."

He stared at me, "If you are so concerned you can have her. She's a nutcase!"

Albus and Joey both stood up and got ready, they knew it could turn bad quick. He insulted Rose in front of me and no one, and I mean no one, gets away with that!

Rose flew for him but I held her back and punched him myself. Unfortunately, Professor McGonagall had chosen that moment to walk in. "Mr McLaggen? What do you think you are doing?"

I massaged my hand, "Teaching someone a lesson."

She sighed, "I'm afraid you'll be seeing me in detention for the rest of the week."

I smiled at her, "Great. See you then."

The Professor turned to leave and I saw that Rose was dying to say something as she was biting her lip. "Professor it was me. I started this; Seth has nothing to do with it."

I raised an eyebrow as the Professor looked at her and sighed, "very well, Miss Weasley, you will join Mr McLaggen in detention. Now return to your common rooms. Mr Potter and Mr Hutcherson you can stop hiding as well."

I had completely had forgotten those two were in the room, with a nod from me they left ahead of us. I walked out with Rose in an awkward silence; I sighed and decided to break it. "You didn't have to do that. Back there, I'm big enough to handle a week of detention on my own."  
>She stopped and looked at me, "Seth, you tried to tell me and I ignored you. I'm so sorry."<p>

I shrugged, "It's done now. Come on, we don't want to be caught and earn more detention."

"Seth?"

I stopped walking, "Rose, seriously it doesn't matter. Come on."

And for some reason I held my hand out for her to take. She placed her hand in mine and we walked back to the Tower and my heart leapt. I sneaked a lot at her and saw her smile. Somehow all those weeks apart were worth it to see that smile again.

I had Rose back.


End file.
